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A Genk attacker cuts the ball back against Liverpool.

Medium: Cut Back

Medium: Cut Back

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is easy so we’re looking at common football words and phrases. Things you use and need to know to play the game.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase cut back

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.


Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is cut back.

Jack: Have a listen to this conversation and see if you can understand the phrase - cut back.

Rich: What a run! He’s gone past one! He’s gone past another!

Jack: There’s a player on the edge of the box. Cut it back!

Rich: Aww! He’s never going to score from there. He should have cut it back.

Jack: So, to cut the ball back is a type of pass on the pitch. This pass always takes place when a player is attacking and usually running with the ball.

Rich: When the player reaches the goal line, the player needs to pass or cross the ball. One option is to cut the ball back - this means to pass the ball back towards a teammate instead of crossing the ball sideways towards the goal.

Jack: A cut back can be very difficult to defend against because the defenders are running towards their own goal and if the ball is cut back they have to turn around very quickly.


Rich: We can speak about cutting the ball back or a cut back. The phrase can be a phrasal verb or a noun. Have a listen:

Jack: Raheem Sterling cut the ball back to Sergio Aguero who scored.

Rich: The defenders could do nothing to stop Daniel James’ cut back and Rashford put the ball past the keeper. 

Jack: We also see both the phrasal verb and the noun being used outside of football but with a very different meaning. Both words are connected to reducing things and often connected to money.

Rich: We might speak about cutting back on things when we don’t have very much money. This means to buy fewer things. 

Jack: Or we might cut back on things for environmental reasons. I’m cutting back on the amount of plastic I use.

Rich: We might hear about cutbacks in education or the health system. This means that the government is spending less money on these things.

Final whistle

Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Comment

Discuss

Why is a cutback so difficult to defend against?

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Comments

Michaelsun
17/02/2022
CN
738
points

It’s difficult to defend against a cutback because the defenders have to turn around very quickly.


Michaelsun
17/02/2022 13:24
China
Manchester United
738

It’s difficult to defend against a cutback because the defenders have to turn around very quickly.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/05/2021
BR
1512
points

Because defenders got to change their body shapes quickly and much often they haven't much time to do so, when attacking players, by the other hand, are already in front of the goal.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
04/05/2021 15:41
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

Because defenders got to change their body shapes quickly and much often they haven't much time to do so, when attacking players, by the other hand, are already in front of the goal.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020
UA
6570
points

It would be a tricky combination - of a few successive cut-backs.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020 21:18
Ukraine
Liverpool
6570

It would be a tricky combination - of a few successive cut-backs.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
28/09/2020
UA
6570
points

I'm constantly cutting back on my transport expenses using my bike as much as I can.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
28/09/2020 08:37
Ukraine
Liverpool
6570

I'm constantly cutting back on my transport expenses using my bike as much as I can.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
28/09/2020
UA
6570
points

 A cutback is so difficult to defend against because it requires a lot of agility from the defenders.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
28/09/2020 08:35
Ukraine
Liverpool
6570

 A cutback is so difficult to defend against because it requires a lot of agility from the defenders.

hsn's picture
hsn
25/04/2020
TR
5555
points

Because the playing area is very narrow and attacking player have to options.He might hit the ball against defender in order to gain throw-in or corner kick. He might pass the ball to the nearby teammate . So defender should be prepared for these cases.


hsn's picture
hsn
25/04/2020 17:25
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5555

Because the playing area is very narrow and attacking player have to options.He might hit the ball against defender in order to gain throw-in or corner kick. He might pass the ball to the nearby teammate . So defender should be prepared for these cases.

Vic
22/04/2020
MX
817
points

Well the cutback is a way to show the skills of the player, do a cutback needs quickly think and to be precise.

The cut back, can get up of your chair at the satnd, and shout for the movement.


Vic
22/04/2020 22:21
Mexico
Liverpool
817

Well the cutback is a way to show the skills of the player, do a cutback needs quickly think and to be precise.

The cut back, can get up of your chair at the satnd, and shout for the movement.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6570
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5555
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33833
3Spain29384
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23394
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20093
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146572
2Liverpool111201
3Chelsea90112
4Arsenal86318
5Manchester City58708
6Tottenham Hotspur19407
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7652
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Learn more football vocabulary.